Thoroughly Enjoyed a Movie

I am a big fan of J R R Tolkien.  I was introduced to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings when I was 15, and I read both books (or all four) during the fall of every year.  Tolkien spent a great deal of time building and crafting Middle Earth, creating its history, and using his knowledge of ancient sagas and tales to bring his own world to life.  I am a great believer, too, that books - the written word - are much better than a film adaptation.  In the book, the author has control of the words used, and it is one's own mind that conjures up the scene the writer is offering.  With a film, one sees a specific person's view of that written work...  I usually like the written word much more than the cinematic representation.
   With the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, much was cut from the stories, and a bit added.  With The Hobbit movie trilogy, a lot has been added, and a lot has been changed from the original story.  Characters who did not appear in the book The Hobbit appear in the films.  New characters are made up, and some of the story lines are changed.  I'm not too happy with that - as well as the fact that travel time is suddenly shortened without regard to the story.  But I do understand that directors of films must make a sell-able object, and that, these days, folks have a much shorter attention span and need multiple, quick-paced movement.  That being said, I actually liked the second part of The Hobbit movie trilogy, The Desolation of Smaug.
  It moved along well, almost too fast at times, and none of the dwarves were given much of a personality - indeed, if you didn't know which dwarf was which, you were pretty much out of luck.  You were able to recognize Thorin Oakenshield, Balin, and young Kili, who was wounded in the film, by the time the film ended...  But you felt nothing of the camaraderie that had grown between them and Bilbo in the 6 months that occurred during their journey to the Lonely Mountain.  Bombur just seemed thrown in for comic relief - especially in the barrels in the river scenes; his ordeal in Mirkwood (in the book) never happens.  Even with this grousing, I liked the second part of the film.  And it had to do with casting and acting - so my thanks go to:  Martin Freeman, Sir Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Ken Stott, Graham McTavish, William Kircher, James Nesbitt, Stephen Hunter, Dean O'Gorman, Aidan Hunter, John Callen, Peter Hambleton, Jed Brophy, Mark Hadlow, Adam Brown, Lee Pace, Mikael Persbrandt, Luke Evans, Orlando Bloom and Evangeline Lilly...  I also enjoyed the director's cameo at the beginning of the film.  I was quite surprised to realize that the Master of Lakewood was Stephen Fry.  And I looked in vain for Stephen Colbert in a cameo in Laketown; he is listed a a Spy for the Master in the credits, but he said that he, his wife, and children were a part of a Laketown scene....  Sorry I missed you, Colbert!

The Hobbit

What is happening? Another woman was shot and killed early this morning in Aurora (part of the Denver metro area). And a few miles to the northwest, in Lyons, a woman's pet miniature donkey was killed by two shots from a high-powered rifle. The sheriff's office has looked at sight-lines and said the shots that killed Kaitlyn came from one of two possible points, from a hillside above the donkeys' nine acre pasture. Tucker, Kaitlyn's brother was not harmed in the attack; but as he has always had his sister for company since birth, he too, is bereft. I simply cannot understand the need to kill someone or something with a gun - to save yourself, yes. To put food on the table, yes. But wantonly shooting human beings and defenseless pets is the absolute lowest depth that a person can sink to. It's just plain old sick; and that person needs to be imprisoned for life and/or put down themselves. Sick. Just sick.

   It's a beautiful day out - the sky is a fantastic shade of blue, with just a few high clouds, the sun is shining, and it's already 50 degrees. The kits let me sleep in today, and I didn't crawl out of bed until 8:30 this morning... Since then, I've showered, fed and medicated myself, fed the kits, let them out, cleaned their litter boxes, fed the birds and the squirrels, read the news, and checked my e-mail. Once again, I'm playing the '60s Revolution music channel as background, but it is almost drowned out by the raucous cries of the ravens in the back yard. Either they believe they deserve more to eat, or Nedi and they are playing. I might take my reading chair out onto the patio and relax for a while in the sun, myself.

   Today and for the weekend, the Native American Expo is taking place in Denver, and the Stock Show still has 10 days left to run. When I saw The Hobbit yesterday, I found that walking two and a half blocks is just about my top capacity at the moment. I was exhausted after walking there, and then was very happy to sit in the dark, put my feet up, and watch the movie. It was pretty good. It didn't follow the book precisely, but it was OK and didn't change too many things too radically. I've been in love with Fili and Kili and Thorin Oakenshield for the past 41 years, and yesterday, I had to add Bofur to the list. Of course, I loved Bombur just because he was so nice to Bilbo from the outset... and his portrayal in the movie is genius. The movie certainly fleshed out Radagast the Brown, and I really enjoyed him, as well. The trolls were nicely creepy and gross; and, of course, Gollum was ... well, Gollum. Now I have to wait a year to see Beorn and Bard... hmmmmmmmm....

Playing With a Puppy; Lincoln

OK, I have climbed down from my maternal pedestal (the last blog) and feel like I'm pretty much back on an even keel. (I love mixing metaphors!) The temperature didn't drop that much last night, so it was above freezing when I wandered over to the local bakery and purchased an apple danish (without any icing). We are totally socked in with clouds, and there are clouds wreathed around the Flatirons and the tops of the Front Range hills and mountains. I just had a squirrel come inside via the patio door, so I went out and replaced the piles of unsalted peanuts and blueberry shredded wheat - and there are a few snowflakes drifting down. Cashew and the older squirrels know that the interior door mat is "neutral" territory -the kits aren't allowed to chase them, and they can eat inside in peace when it's snowing outside... Late yesterday afternoon, Nedi and Lovey were acting a little odder than usual; they'd go outside, run back in, look at one another (as if they were asking, "What was that?"), peek out the window, and run back out. I finally had to see what they were up to. My next door neighbor, Chris, was on the patio with his new lady, Sherri. Sherri had brought her 10-week old miniature Chihuahua with her. Wearing a minuscule red and green knitted sweater, this little dog weighed about 8 ounces. It was so excited to see the cats, and it wanted to play with them - it would bow down as an invitation, and then dart around. My cats wanted to chase her, but weren't quite sure what she was.... With me standing out on the patio, both Lovey and Nedi let the puppy approach them, sniff their noses, and lick their faces. Both kits even played a little bit of chase with the puppy. It was sooo cute!

  Remy has an acupuncture appointment this morning, so I'll be walking the Rs a little later than usual, and then taking miss Lucy out, too. Tomorrow morning, I'm due at the Thore residence between 6:30 and 7; I'll be at that house through the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I'll be coming home for a few hours each day, but will generally be over there. I'm also pulling some extra duty with Rosie and Remy, and I'll also be feeding and medicating Sasquatch, Tugger, and Ooch during that time. I guess that I'll be making a fruit platter, corn pudding, and one small pan of brownies for the family Thanksgiving - this year, we'll be meeting at the Niwot Grange,not at some one's house.... I don't know yet about our Christmas-New Years family get-together. I'll be house-sitting at a large house, but it's Rosie and Remy's - and they are table and counter surfers - stealing and eating anything within reach; plus Remy barks at all strangers.... We'd have plenty of room, but I'd have to place the dogs in the garage, and then deal with their barking, so I can't host this year, as I did last year. (Mainly because it isn't fair to the Rs.)

  I am looking forward to two movies that are to be released between now and Christmas - Lincoln and The Hobbit. One of my friends asked me the other day about the possibility that Lincoln had suffered from Marfan's Disease. I did some research and was amazed when I came upon a web-page that detailed all of Lincoln's medical history. I had no idea that he had been kicked in the head by a mule when he was a child; I had no idea that he had apparently drowned and was left floating face-down in a creek for 15 minutes as a child; I had no idea that Mary Todd Lincoln was a spouse abuser - she gave her husband black eyes and beat him with broomsticks and fire tongs.... It was amazing! I wonder if any of these things will be shown in Spielberg's movie?

  And, finally, the young man who has been arrested and charged with the mass shooting at the Aurora movie theater is definitely disturbed. We know he has been under psychiatric care for some time, and I'm sure his defense team will use an insanity plea. I was surprised to hear the young man had been hospitalized a few days ago, and that a major hearing had been postponed. A rumor was out and about that the young man was suffering from a severe migraine headache - then it became known that he had been ramming his head into the concrete walls of his cell. (Maybe he needs to be kept in a padded cell, or rubber room?) That, to me, seems to be an indication that he is sane and that he is trying to harm himself in order to prove he is insane. I have no idea if this is true, but having read a lot of mystery books, and police procedurals, I just have this sneaking suspicion....